Within the modern Internet economy various tools exist to help provide insight in to Internet connection performance. Generally speaking these tools are referred to as “speed tests.” These tests provide a variety of performance metrics (ping, latency, jitter, etc.), the most referenced and ubiquitous being the upload and download speed of an Internet connection. It is thought that the tool most used by consumers is http://www.speedtest.net by Ookla/Ziff-Davis Publishing (http://www.ookla.com). Ookla provides a web browser based tool as well as variants of the tool for iOS, the mobile operating system available from Apple Inc., and Android smart phones/tablets. Ookla also offers a “cobranded” version of their tool, which is used by Internet service providers such as AT&T, Comcast and even the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) agency of the United States government (offered as a “mobile broadband measurement tool” called “FCC Speed Test” as part of the Measuring Broadband America initiative). In addition to Ookla's Speed Test product there are similar web browser tools (some having mobile iOS and/or Android extensions) including Testmy.net, Speedof.me, Myspeed.visualware.com, Bandwidthplace.com, and Ping-test.com.
The current landscape of speed test tools listed above allows users to test a single device connection (a Personal Computer (PC)/laptop, Apple iPhone/iPad, Android smart phone/tablet) to a nearest geographical test server node typically within a user's Internet service provider. These tools primarily report a single upload and download speed and some of the tools also provide comparative metrics for alternate service providers, speeds of alternate users within a similar geography, at similar times, etc., all of which attempt to help the user understand how their results compare to others and other networks.